[BlueOnyx:12023] Re: APC breaks my server

[Michael Stauber]

Hi Rob,

> Any suggestions on non-garbage, non-conflicting software that could
> accomplish the same tasks?
> 
> Drupal is extremely heavy on PHP code, and compiling / caching makes perfect
> sense.

Yes, it can make a lot of sense - depending on the application. In the
past the Zend stuff was really good. But a few years ago they started to
slack off and rested too long on past laurels. I remember when PHP-5.3
came out, they needed half a year to get a - more or less - working
version of their Optimizer ready, which also dropped all backwards
compatibility. So old compiled code stopped working if you used the new
loader. Which in itself is a bad testimony for Zend, as they once were
the driving force behind the PHP development.

Another thing worth checking out for compiling PHP code is IonCube. The
IonCube Encoder 7.0 (Basic, Pro and Cerberus) and it's loader doesn't do
caching, but the compiled code runs significantly faster than uncompiled
PHP code. At the same time Zend encoded stuff runs actually slower than
unencoded PHP code.

I've been using IonCube Encoder Cerberus for the last five or six years
and like it a lot. However, for me the speed advantage is just a small
extra benefit, as I mainly use it to protect intellectual property of
commercial products from reverse engineering and tampering.

-- 
With best regards

Michael Stauber